Chapter 458 - Fighting for the Inheritance

Chapter 458: Chapter 467: Fighting for the InheritanceEveryone was waiting for Chu Xiaoyao to express her stance when there was a knock at the door. Someone immediately went to open it, and Lin Qiong walked in.

"Xiaoyao, this is what your parents left for you." Lin Qiong approached Chu Xiaoyao, handed her a document folder.

Chu Xiaoyao didn’t move an inch, so Li Yifei took the folder from Lin Qiong’s hands and said to Chu Xiaoyao, "Xiaoyao, take a look at these, they are what your parents left for you."

Chu Xiaoyao’s body trembled, and she quickly snatched the folder, tremblingly opened it, and began to examine each item inside.

Chu Wenqiang and Wang Junyou also leaned in to look, but the expressions on their faces quickly turned uglier and uglier, as it turned out to be a will, along with some property deeds.

To their shock, Chu Xiaoyao’s parents had already transferred all their property into Chu Xiaoyao’s name, extinguishing any hope they had of dividing up the inheritance.

Li Yifei, looking at these documents dated within the last few months, roughly understood that Chu Xiaoyao’s mother had long planned to seek death along with her husband. To protect her daughter from being bullied after her death, she had arranged over those months for her husband to transfer the property into Chu Xiaoyao’s name.

As for Chu Xiaoyao’s father, he naturally had no objections to transferring the property to his daughter. He probably agreed because his wife feared he would squander the property on other women if she died, and because she treated him quite well at that time.

After delivering the items to Chu Xiaoyao and knowing that Li Yifei was there to prevent any trouble, Lin Qiong excused herself and left. As soon as Lin Qiong was gone, Chu Xiaoyao’s relatives exploded in anger. Although the Chu family was not extremely wealthy, the combined properties were worth three to four million. If this sum was divided into three parts, they would each receive about one million—a sum nominally for the elders, but ultimately going to them.

While they had all made plans for this, they now found their efforts had come to naught, as there was nothing left for them. Neither side of relatives could accept this reality, and they became noisy, one side criticizing Chu Xiaoyao’s father and the other blaming her mother. Eventually, Chu Xiaoyao’s paternal relatives condemned her mother’s actions and even talked of suing her, while her maternal relatives vigorously listed the wrongs her father had done.

As both sides argued fiercely, Chu Xiaoyao seemed deaf to the noise, repeatedly poring over her parents’ belongings, especially her mother’s suicide note, which explained the reasons for her death and contained many apologies to Chu Xiaoyao, urging her to be strong.

After a while, everyone calmed down. Over the past two days, they had been studying inheritance law to divide the fortune, and they now understood that no matter how much they argued, they would not get a share of the property unless Chu Xiaoyao decided to give it to them willingly.

Chu Wenqiang cleared his throat and said, "Xiaoyao, we are all your elders. Your parents have passed away, but we still have a duty to take care of you. How about this, you come and live with your great-uncle, so it’s easier for him to look after you."

Wang Junyou grew anxious upon hearing this, quickly interjecting, "Xiaoyao, didn’t you always love visiting your grand-uncle’s house as a child? From now on, you should live with your grand-uncle. He will definitely not let you suffer any injustices."

Chu Wenqiang waved his hand and said, "Junyou, you’re not being fair. After all, Xiaoyao is a member of the Chu family by surname. It is only right for us, the Chu family, to look after her."

Wang Junyou countered, "Mother’s brother is most important, a tradition since ancient times. Besides, Xiaoyao has always been closer to our side of the family. If you don’t believe me, ask Xiaoyao herself. She will definitely want to come to our house."

Chu Wenqiang signaled to the younger members of the family on his side. They immediately began to invite Chu Xiaoyao to stay with them, while Wang Junyou’s side was equally determined, with a group of female cousins all surrounding Chu Xiaoyao, chirping persuasively.

Chu Xiaoyao looked up at everyone, her lips twitching. She had spent the past few days crying, speaking very little, as if she no longer knew how to talk.

The room instantly fell silent, everyone watching Chu Xiaoyao nervously, as her decision would determine the fate of the family wealth amounting to millions.

"I am not going anywhere," Chu Xiaoyao finally uttered those five words.

Chu Wenqiang immediately responded, "What? That’s impossible. You’re so young, how can you live alone? We can’t be at peace with that decision. Besides, your grandmother has been constantly thinking about you."

Wang Junyou also said urgently, "Xiaoyao, you can’t just do as you please. You come to your uncle’s, and you’ll get to see your grandmother every day. She’s been the kindest to you from the start."

However, Chu Xiaoyao remained firm and shook her head, saying, "I know grandma and granny both love me, and I also know all of you want to split some money. It’s right for my parents to support grandma and granny, and even though they have passed, I won’t shirk that responsibility. I’ll give them some money eventually, but I am not going anywhere now. I want to stay with Uncle Li. He will take care of me."

Chu Xiaoyao tightly gripped Li Yifei’s hand, her eyes pitiful as she said, "Uncle, you must not disregard me."

Li Yifei sighed. Xiaoyao could even handle things like this at such a time; it was indeed quite rare. However, in the end, she directed all the blame at him, but he too couldn’t shirk his responsibility at this moment. He gripped Chu Xiaoyao’s hand back and nodded firmly, saying, "Your uncle will take care of you."

"I knew Uncle wouldn’t disregard me," Chu Xiaoyao snuggled into Li Yifei’s embrace and began to sob softly again.

Everyone had been seeing Li Yifei over the past couple of days and they were very curious about him. People didn’t stop inquiring about who Li Yifei really was, but Chu Xiaoyao was virtually unable to speak by then, and Li Yifei would only say he was Xiaoyao’s friend.

This made everyone suspect that Chu Xiaoyao and Li Yifei’s relationship was not shallow. They had wanted to speak up these last few days, but never found the opportunity, and now that Chu Xiaoyao had directly asked Li Yifei to take care of her, it further stoked everyone’s anger.

"No! This is absolutely unacceptable!" Chu Wenqiang immediately shouted loudly, glaring at Li Yifei, and barked, "Xiaoyao absolutely cannot be with you. Xiaoyao is only eighteen, and how old are you? Xiaoyao doesn’t understand things, but we cannot let you deceive her."

Wang Junyou also glared at Li Yifei, saying, "Right, no matter who you are, it’s absolutely not okay for you to deceive Xiaoyao."

Li Yifei smiled faintly and said, "I know you all are worried about me. Actually, this matter is easy to solve. Later, I will sign a document with Chu Xiaoyao, certifying that I will absolutely not use a penny of Xiaoyao’s money. What’s hers is hers."

However, Chu Wenqiang and Wang Junyou just wouldn’t believe it. Chu Wenqiang frowned and said, "What’s the use of signing such a document? If you run off with Xiaoyao’s money, where would I find you then?"

Wang Junyou also said anxiously, "This is absolutely not possible. We don’t know you. On what grounds could you be responsible for taking care of Chu Xiaoyao?"

This question really stumped Li Yifei momentarily, as he indeed had no official status to take care of Chu Xiaoyao. At this time, Xiaoyao suddenly sat up straight and said loudly, "Uncle is my man, what of it? My possessions are his, and I am willing to give them to him; you have no say in this."

Li Yifei’s heart broke into a sweat; with those words, Xiaoyao was pushing him further into the fire.

The crowd was even more enraged. Chu Wenqiang slammed the table and bellowed, "Xiaoyao, you are being far too foolish! You’re just eighteen, you’ve only just graduated from high school, and you’re already finding a man? And this man is so much older than you; it’s clear he’s deceiving you. How could you be so naive?"

Chu Xiaoyao lifted her chin and said, "I am already eighteen, I’m an adult. I have the right to make my own decisions, and besides, my dad and mom both knew Uncle. You can look, my mother mentioned it in her will, to let Uncle take care of me."

Li Yifei forced a smile. Xiaoyao’s words were actually true; her mother had indeed mentioned in her will that Li Yifei should take care of Chu Xiaoyao, which left Li Yifei puzzled as to what the mother was thinking. Why would she trust him so much, preferring him over her own relatives, and even an outsider like him?

Wang Junyou shouted angrily, "Your mom was out of her senses then. She poisoned her own man and sought death herself. Could she possibly make a rational decision?" Xiaoyao’s mother was his sister. Typically, women tend to side with their maternal family, but Xiaoyao’s mother had entrusted Xiaoyao to a stranger and hadn’t given her maternal family any benefits. This truly infuriated him.

Chu Xiaoyao rose to her feet, her face ashen, and declared loudly, "Whether you agree or not, that’s your business. In any case, I will be with Uncle no one can stop me. My possessions are his, and if you think of taking them away, that’s not going to happen."

"She’s mad, completely mad."

"Xiaoyao, how can you be so foolish? He’s clearly deceiving you."

"We are your relatives; how could we not want what’s best for you? You need to think this through."

The crowd tried to persuade Chu Xiaoyao, but she was unmoved. Outgoing by nature, once a girl has a man in her heart, all her thoughts are focused on him. Especially a rebellious girl like Xiaoyao, once she has made up her mind, no one can persuade her to change it.

"Enough, all of you! If you keep this up, I won’t give you a single cent. This money can only be managed by me alone, and nobody else can touch it." With those words from Chu Xiaoyao, everyone was silenced. Even if Xiaoyao was young, she indeed had the sole authority over the substantial family wealth.